As we embrace the New Year and the many new opportunities it will bring, we caught up with our latest apprentices, Alfie and Jayden, who started with us in September 2024. They are doing the ARU Level 3 Land-based Service Engineering Technician course, delivered by Writtle College, to embark upon a practical engineering career with many opportunities and prospects. The apprenticeship is completed while in hands-on employment, and with 3 months under their belt, they are settling in with their Turney mentors, learning new skills, and familiarising themselves with the machines.
They attended their Block 1 residential training in October where they began learning to recognise components, build confidence, and visit a Case New Holland factory. Though not essential, both apprentices have experience on farms through friends and family, Jayden even has some of his own sheep, and they have been lending a hand from an early age. Alfie had previously completed work experience with Turney’s so he was familiar with the business and they both were successful after a test and interview.
Alfie started with mentor Dave Vear, our resident Can-am expert, assisting with on-farm service jobs, drive belt jobs, and other tasks. He has also supported the PDI process with multiple units sold by our busy sales team and is learning the different Can-am models. Jayden has worked with his mentor on drills, helped PDI Kuhn Megant models, and assisted with on-farm drill servicing, among other things. He aspires to work on tractors in the future and is happy to be busy throughout the day on various tasks.
At Turney’s, we are very proud of our apprenticeship program. We currently have 5 apprentices in employment and others who came through the course and are now valued members of the workshop team, including some enrolled in the 1970s! In November 2024, Turney Group was awarded Farm Machinery Dealer of the Year at the Service Dealer Awards. Investment in aftersales was a key factor to the success, with the judges concluding; ‘Turney’s have established a highly regarded apprenticeship program as well as being renowned for best-in-class workshop operations, community involvement, team morale, and strong industry and supplier relations.’
We wish all of our apprentices the best of luck in their future careers and intend to continue growing the next generation of agricultural engineers to ensure the longevity of our industry. If you, or anybody you know, would like to learn more about the apprenticeship programme and apply for our next intake, please email careers@turneygroup.com.
Turney Group, Bicester, has won the coveted Farm Machinery Dealer of the Year 2024, sponsored by Ibcos at the Service Dealer Awards, held at the Crowne Plaza, Stratford Upon Avon on Thursday 28th November. Jeremy Turney was also a Finalist for the Leadership Award.
The Turney Group, formerly PA Turney, was founded by the late Peter Turney whose principles of high standards, enthusiasm, and commitment enabled the growth of the business and the accumulation of dealerships for many well-known suppliers.
Continuing to uphold the standards established by Peter over 75 years ago, Turney Group has subsequently grown into a multi-million-pound family business representing leading agricultural and horticultural franchises including New Holland, Kuhn, Vaderstad, Honda, Stihl, RansomesJacobson, and many more.
The judges said, “Having also won the New Holland Q1 Customer Service Champion award this year, Turney Group has established a highly regarded apprenticeship program and is renowned for its best-in-class workshop operations, community involvement, team morale, and strong industry and supplier relations.
“Earlier this year they built upon their annual Grain Clinic holding their first Agricultural Open Day, inviting along many of their suppliers and customers. A hugely successful day they intend to build upon it next year.”
Phil Bush, Dealer Principal, remarks ‘A great achievement which would not have been possible without such great staff. Well done everyone, a much-deserved recognition of an excellent team effort by the whole business.’
This year Turney Group is very proud to be part of the story of The Christmas Tractor; a magical, colourful celebration of festive cheer that has raised over £12,000 for Katharine House hospice since 2020. You can find out more about their partnership here.
Turney Group’s very own Chantelle, and Andy, work tirelessly to adorn the Christmas Tractor with thousands upon thousands of fairy lights, decorations, (and a few surprises for 2024!) to delight all who see it this Christmas. Read on if you would like to get involved and find out where to see the Tractor lit up- it’s not to be missed!
Katharine House delivers personalised physical, emotional, social, and spiritual care from diagnosis to end of life in our local Bicester community, and it costs £14,500 each day to keep their services running.
This year The Christmas Tractor will be a Turney’s New Holland T7.260 220hp, 50kph 4WD Tractor with, as always, brilliant Cherry ProductsBoxSmart weight boxes. Our loan of the machine and internal fundraising are a key seasonal focus in our depots and we wish all the best to this year’s Christmas Tractor tour.
Get involved, follow on social media, see it for yourself and please donate if you can. If you are a business wishing to donate, it’s not too late to get involved and have the chance to be featured on the Tractor itself. Get in touch via Facebook to find out more. Visit the Christmas Tractors Just Giving page hereand follow them on Facebook for all of the latest updates.
The Can-am Traxter is the Ideal Utility Vehicle for Farmers
The Can-am Traxter utility vehicle has become an invaluable tool for sheep farmer Tyson and his brother on their Warwickshire sheep farm. The family farm changes their machine every 2 years and is on its third, having started with the HD8 and now they have a gas-converted HD9 model. With road speeds up to 60mph, ample pulling power, and cost-effective fuel, they haven’t looked back since.
The Traxter has a shorter wheelbase, compared to vehicles they have used before, so it is less cumbersome and ideal for getting into areas others can’t. If the truck gets stuck, the Traxter can pull it out. The winch has come in very useful a few times, they even rescued a lamb from a 15-foot-deep drain using it before. ‘To this day we don’t know how it got down there but we pulled it up with the Traxter! We probably don’t use the winch more than 4 times a year, but when you do it’s very handy.’
The Traxter utility vehicle has taken over a lot of what they used to do on a quad bike. The one quad they have does the electric fencing, and the Can-am does everything else. With young children, it is a much safer option to strap them in the Traxter when they come to work helping to feed the sheep or pheasants. The Can-am cab has been well thought out and they use the detachable glove box as a med box, especially useful when treating animals in the fields, and they put the under seat storage boxes to good use. Complete with a canopy lid, they have made a divider so they can have food on one side and dogs, and occasionally sheep, on the other.
If you would like to try a Traxter for yourself, contact our sales team to find out more and book. We have a specialist Can-am engineer in-house who can maintain your machine with genuine parts and plenty of experience in the business to advise you on the best choice for your farm.
With our Vaderstad Autumn cultivation demonstrations well underway, we have been finding out how Vaderstad E-Control can be utilised to enhance your farming operations by integrating data and control through their revolutionary digital system.
What is Vaderstad E-Control?
The modern iPad-based control system Väderstad E-Control wirelessly connects to the Väderstad machine enabling full access to its functions and data.
What are the benefits of Vaderstad E-Control?
Full control at your fingertips. You benefit from user-friendly remote setup, calibration, and real-time monitoring and control.
Many Vaderstad machines use ISOBUS as a control system, but with E-Control we take machine control to a new level.
Rapid, Spirit, and Inspire seed drills benefits:
Real-time full monitoring of all the usual parameters you would expect to see.
Control of all the usual machine functions such as seed and fertiliser rate, control of seeding depth, control of tramlining and marker arms etc.
Control of variable seed and fertiliser rates with mapping.
Automatic seed rate calibration using the unique SeedEye system that allows seed rates to be set in seeds per hectare.
Full blockage monitoring.
Dynamic tramlining so the drill width does not have to fit in with the sprayer width.
Tempo planters:
Real time full monitoring of all the usual parameters you would expect to see.
Control of all the usual machine functions such as: seed and fertiliser rate and marker arms etc.
Automatic seed rate calibration and automatic singulator adjustment.
Individual monitoring of each row unit and its performance.
Section control on the headland.
Automatic tramlining with pre-emergence marking.
Automatic curve compensation.
Control of variable seed and fertiliser rates with mapping.
Automatic row unit downforce monitoring and adjustment.
TopDown Cultivator:
Full electronic control of the four working elements – tine depth, disc depth, levelling disc position, and downforce on packer.
Each of these four elements can be adjusted individually whilst in work or you can set the four pre-set buttons for different field conditions.
Full integration with field mapping to allow automatic adjustment of each element as required.
Full recording of each element whilst in work to record and prove working depth etc.
On top of this all machines with E Control can:
Be loaded with operators and parts manuals.
Be loaded with set up videos explain the operation and set up of each machine.
Record all machine functions and settings whilst in operation.
Allow for easy updates by opening the app in the farm office and updating then download the update onto your Vaderstad machine.
If you would like to learn more about how Vaderstad E-Control can benefit your farming operations, contact our agricultural sales team today on 01869 343333.
This week, we were privileged to hold a New Holland CR11 demo day for invited customers. The machine is New Holland’s latest flagship model and boasts a massive 20,000-litre grain tank, new 2x24in rotors, and the new Twin-Clean cleaning system. Both the CR10 and CR11 are built at New Holland’s Centre of Excellence in Zedelgem, Belgium featuring innovative new designs and ability to handle greater volumes of crop.
The greatest difference between the two machines is power and grain tank size; the CR11 has a 15.9-litre FPT Cursor 16 engine producing 775hp, and the CR10 is a 12.9-litre FPT Cursor 13 engine generating 635hp, while its grain tank holds 16,000 litres.
On Saturday 3rd August it was Blakesley Show 2024. We had a fantastic stand with New Holland, Manitou, Kuhn, Vaderstad, AW Trailers, Hustler, Iseki & Ransomes equipment on show. The vintage tractor display was a highlight and we had a great turnout of customers new and old stopping by to say hello.
Until next year!
The next show on our schedule this summer will be Bucks Show on 29th August, followed by Moreton in the Marsh show on the 7th September.
We are here for you when you need it most. With harvest fast approaching, here is a reminder of our agricultural service department and stores peak season opening hours;
Monday-Friday: 8am-7pm
Saturday: 8am-4pm
Sunday: 8am-12:30pm
Please call ahead and note that hours are weather dependent.
This year, we have an exciting selection of elite cultivation machinery from Väderstad available for on-farm demonstrations. Väderstad produce exceptionally high quality machinery, developed and manufactured in Sweden. Their farm machinery is built to create the optimum environment allowing for perfect emergence in your field through their focus on innovation and attention to detail.
The Carrier XT 525; part of the disc cultivator range, is used for high speed primary tillage and seedbed preparation. The Carrier is able to handle a versatile range of challenges, from ultra-shallow cultivation to deeper incorporation, saving passes and ultimately cost per hectare. The Carrier can be used for five main tasks: stubble cultivation, incorporation, seedbed preparation, small-seed drilling and pest prevention. All disc cultivators in the Carrier family are characterised by their strong frame constructed with high-quality Swedish steel. The high weight on each disc improves penetration and maintains working depth even in tough conditions. Read more about the Carrier here: Versatile disc cultivator – Vaderstad Carrier | Väderstad
The Cultus CS425HD tine cultivator boasts a release force of up to 680kg. Its heavy-duty tines, offered with different points for all soil types, have the ability to apply a high force to the soil and keep its depth in a full range of soil types and conditions. The machine achieves extremely accurate depth precision resulting in excellent tillage results across the entire field. The Cultus is equipped with Väderstad’s MixIn shin; which throws the material forward, instead of upwards, forcing the material to pass the twine twice which doubles the mixing intensity. Read more about the Cultus HD here: Cultus 425-525 & Cultus HD 425-525 tine cultivators | Väderstad (vaderstad.com)
The TopDown TD400 is a high intensity multi-purpose machine capable of performing full-scale shallow cultivation and a deep cultivation in one single pass. By combining an intensive disc cultivator along with a robust three axle tine cultivator in the same machine, they have created a truly versatile solution. The TopDown is equipped with the unique MixIn technology as standard on all tine cultivators. Using the iPad-based control system Väderstad E-Control, the operator gains full control of the machine directly from the tractor cab. With a touch of a button, the driver can set the individual working depth or intensity of the discs, tines, levellers, or packer on the go. To assist the field work, four pre-set buttons can be used to store different machine configurations. With the iPad you can upload the most recent program software which allows you to benefit from future developments. Read more about the TopDown range and E-Control here: TopDown – Heavy multipurpose cultivator for high versatility | Väderstad (vaderstad.com)
Contact our agricultural sales team to discuss which machine would be best for your individual needs and book in a demonstration today.
As we embrace the New Year and the many new opportunities it will bring, we caught up with our latest apprentices, Alfie and Jayden, who started with us in September 2024. They are doing the ARU Level 3 Land-based Service Engineering Technician course, delivered by Writtle College, to embark upon a practical engineering career with many opportunities and prospects. The apprenticeship is completed while in hands-on employment, and with 3 months under their belt, they are settling in with their Turney mentors, learning new skills, and familiarising themselves with the machines.
